Question

Is it o.k. to give my 3 month old rice cereal?

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I would like to introduce my son to rice cereal to get him used to baby food so that it isn't a foreign thing to him when it comes to different flavors. Also the woman in my family say that its ok as long as its just rice cereal with breast milk. What do i do??

Mom Answers

I wouldn't give him any kind of solids just yet. Babies digestive systems aren't usually ready to handle anything other than formula or breastmilk until they are between four and six months old. We waited until our daughters were five months old to give them anything other than formula and breastmilk. He won't be missing out on anything and he'll do just fine with different flavours and textures when the time comes.
Another good reason not to start him on anything yet; there are a few studies out there that suggest starting solids too early can later lead to obesity. Check out this article... http://children.webmd.com/news/20110207/starting-solids-too-soon-tied-to-childhood-obesity
Good luck! And don't forget that there will come a time when you wish he wasn't eating solids. :-P

I held off as long as possible. It's more to clean up, more to worry about, more to purchase (even though I made my own food, I still had to buy the ingredients), stinkier poop... We didn't start until 6 months with my daughter and she grabbed the spoon and ate everything we stuffed in her mouth, and we tried with my son at 6 months but he wasn't interested until closer to 8 months. They are now 2 and 4 1/2 and they are the best eaters I've met. Kale, broccoli, spinach, any fruit, olives, mushrooms... He'll be better off starting when he's ready.

I would not give him cereal. You should not be starting your Lo on solids until at least 4 mnths. Starting your baby earlier is not going to get him used to solids any faster. Babies less than 4-6 mnths still have the tongue thrust reflex so this is going to prevent you from spoon feeding. I would not put rice in the bottle it can be a choking hazard and you can overfeed easier which leads discomfort and obesity in babies. Honestly there is no hurry, I just started spoon feeding my Lo and she is 4 1/2 mnths and she loves cereal and carrots. I only started spoon feeding my lo when I was eating cereal myself and my lo opened her mouth like she was getting it. Don't force the cereal he will eat.it when he is ready. Good luck

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